the presiding deity of every object in the universe).  Thou art knowledge, thou art the illusion to which we are all subject; thou art the all-pervading spirit; thou art the lord of the gods; thou art the great Truth; thou art fearless; thou art ever unchanged; thou art Brahma without attributes; thou art the energy of the Sun; thou art the intellectual functions; thou art our great protector; thou art the ocean of holiness; thou art purity; thou art bereft of the attributes of darkness; thou art the possessor of the six high attributes; thou art he who cannot be withstood in contest.  From thee have emanated all things; thou art of excellent deeds; thou art all that hath not been and all that hath been.  Thou art pure knowledge; thou displayest to us, as Surya does by his rays, this animate and inanimate universe; thou darkenest the splendour of Surya at every moment, and thou art the destroyer of all; thou art all that is perishable and all that is imperishable.  O thou resplendent as Agni, thou burnest all even as Surya in his anger burneth all creatures.  O terrible one, thou resistest even as the fire that destroys everything at the time of the Universal Dissolution.  O mighty Garuda who movest in the skies, we seek thy protection.  O lord of birds thy energy is extraordinary, thy splendour is that of fire, thy brightness is like that of the lightning that no darkness can approach.  Thou reachest the very clouds, and art both the cause and the effect; the dispenser of boons and invincible in prowess.  O Lord, this whole universe is rendered hot by thy splendour, bright as the lustre of heated gold.  Protect these high-souled gods, who overcome by thee and terrified withal, are flying along the heavens in different directions on their celestial cars.  O thou best of birds, thou Lord of all, thou art the son of the merciful and high-souled Rishi Kasyapa; therefore, be not wroth but have mercy on the universe.  Thou art Supreme.  O pacify thy anger and preserve us.  At thy voice, loud as the roar of the thunder, the ten points, the skies, the heavens, the Earth and our hearts, O bird, thou art continuously shaking.  O, diminish this thy body resembling Agni.  At the sight of the splendour resembling that of Yama when in wrath, our hearts lose all equanimity and quake.  O thou lord of birds, be propitious to us who solicit thy mercy!  O illustrious one, bestow on us good fortune and joy.’

And that bird of fair feathers, thus adored by the deities and diverse sections of Rishis, reduced his own energy and splendour.’”

And thus ends the twenty-third section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.

SECTION XXIV

(Astika Parva continued)

“Sauti said, ’Then hearing of and beholding his own body, that bird of beautiful feathers diminished its size.’

“And Garuda said, ’Let no creature be afraid; as ye are in a fright at the sight of my terrible form, I shall diminish my energy.’